Coming Soon

A preview of the great things you can expect from PPS in 2004

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Web Resources

Already, we've introduced a new graphic look to our PPS.org website, with greater accessibility and more placemaking resources. We're kicking off the new site with Placemaker Profiles, where you can learn more about the pivotal thinkers and writers who have done so much to shape the placemaking movement. Later this year, look for our new online resource center for Context Sensitive Solutions, a collaboration between PPS and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) that will provide tools to plan streets and roads that respond to community needs. We'll also launch the Paris and New York City Commentaries, replete with analysis, trends, and cautionary advice on our most beloved cities. We invite you to check PPS.org for new resources--we constantly try out new ideas on the website!

Events and Training

We will hold our 9th annual Great Parks/Great Cities conference in London on July 10-13, 2004 in partnership with GreenSpace, a UK non-profit dedicated to the advocacy of public green spaces in the United Kingdom, and the London Parks and Green Spaces Forum. The conference will convene leaders from around the world who care about parks' crucial role in revitalizing cities and neighborhoods. This year's participants can look forward to several unique activities: workshops and tours off the beaten track; access to local leaders who are changing the face of the city; an insider's view of London's latest innovative parks and public spaces; and the opportunity to meet and learn from the most international field of parks experts ever assembled. This is a great chance to mix work with vacation--families are welcome! Details are still in the process of finalization with our partners; in the meantime you can sign up for updates at the conference website.

In addition to the conference, this year's training program includes a Markets Workshop and "How to Turn a Place Around" training course, held concurrently on April 22-23, 2004. Steve Davies and David O'Neil, PPS's market experts, will lead the one and half-day workshop on how to create successful public markets, complete with site visits to some of New York City's finest markets. Kathy Madden and Fred Kent will host the day and a half "How to Turn a Place Around," which arms participants with the principles of the dynamic placemaking process, ending with a hands-on case study in a New York City neighborhood. An October "How to Turn a Place Around" is scheduled too--forward the invitations to your friends who are unable to join us in April. You may register for either workshop and find more on PPS.org.

Products and Services

We've long said that public spaces, from streets to sidewalks to parks and downtowns are what make a city or town great. And recently, several communities from Omaha, Nebraska to Littleton, New Hampshire have taken that idea and run with it, tackling more comprehensive, citywide issues with the PPS placemaking approach.

Inspired by their stories and accomplishments, we are developing a Great Cities Initiative to combine our different services in customized packages to cities and towns that want to address broad issues, such as traffic and downtown sustainability, but don't have a specific project in mind. For example, in one city, we could conduct a City Commentary, then use those observations and initial analysis as the basis for a "How to Turn a Place Around" workshop and Place Game with local stakeholders, then formulate a vision that leads to site-specific projects around the city, with a website that features community input, workshop results, and examples of great public spaces from around the world. The result is a comprehensive strategy to utilize a city's assets, implement short-term solutions, and achieve long-term goals. Contact Ethan Kent for more information on how your city can participate in the Great Cities Initiative.

As you can see, we have our work cut out for us! This is just the tip of the iceberg in what we're planning for this year. Keep us posted with your thoughts and comments on our listserves, our newsletters, the PPS Socials, or just by writing us. While we might be leading some of the work in placemaking, we are in large part reacting to your needs and responses. Your input is more important than ever as we aim to change our public spaces--and our communities--for the better.

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